The quote by Jules Verne, “We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones,” perfectly captures the age-old tug-of-war in jurisprudence between positive law (laws written down by governments) and natural law (universal moral principles, fundamental rights, and the laws of nature).
In Kenyan history, we have repeatedly tried to use human laws to enforce authoritarian rule, restrict freedoms, or ignore basic human decency. Yet, time and again, the “natural laws” of justice, human dignity, and biological reality have broken through.
Here is how Kenyan law proves that human legislation must ultimately bend to the laws of nature.
1. The Death of Parliamentary Supremacy
For decades after independence, Kenya operated under the shadow of absolute parliamentary supremacy. If the government had enough votes in Parliament, they could pass any human law they wanted—including turning Kenya into a de jure (by law) one-party state in 1982. Dictatorial regimes believed they could “brave” human laws to suppress human nature.
But you cannot legislate away the natural human desire for freedom and dignity. The resistance to these oppressive human laws led to the Second Liberation and, ultimately, the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
Article 1(1) of our Constitution permanently corrected this balance:
“All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and shall be exercised only in accordance with this Constitution.”
Parliament is no longer supreme; the Constitution is supreme because it anchors itself on natural, inherent human rights that no politician can take away.
2. The Rules of Natural Justice
In Kenyan administrative law, if a government body or tribunal makes a decision without following the Rules of Natural Justice, that decision is automatically null and void. These are not rules invented in a lab; they are “natural” because they are self-evident to human reason.
The High Court and Court of Appeal consistently strike down state actions that violate these two immutable maxims:
| Maxim | Meaning in Practice | How Human Law Fails It |
| Audi alteram partem | “Hear the other side.” No one should be condemned unheard. | If a university expels a student or the TSC fires a teacher without giving them a fair hearing, the court will overturn it, no matter what the internal regulations say. |
| Nemo judex in causa sua | “No one should be a judge in their own cause.” The rule against bias. | A state official cannot sit on a procurement board evaluating a tender submitted by their own company. Human law cannot override the natural bias of self-interest. |
3. Article 2(4) and Unjust Laws
The ultimate legal embodiment of Verne’s quote is found in Article 2(4) of the Constitution. It states that any law, including customary law, that is inconsistent with the Constitution is void to the extent of the inconsistency.
Historically, various customary human laws across Kenya denied women the right to inherit property, treating them as dependents who could not own land. Courts have forcefully used natural law principles—specifically the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings—to strike these customs down.
In cases like Rono v Rono, Kenyan courts ruled that cultural practices or human-made traditions cannot resist the natural law of gender equality and human dignity.
4. The Environment: The Literal Laws of Nature
We can pass human laws allowing factories to dump waste into rivers or permitting developers to build on riparian land (land next to water bodies). We can bribe inspectors and manipulate the written law.
But as Kenya has learned through devastating cycles of flash floods, droughts, and the shrinking of Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha, you cannot bribe gravity, and you cannot legislate away ecology. When you build on a natural riverbed, the river will eventually claim its path back.
Recognizing this, Kenya’s legal system has elevated the environment to a constitutional right. Article 42 guarantees every Kenyan the right to a clean and healthy environment.
Furthermore, Kenyan courts now heavily enforce the Precautionary Principle and the principle of Intergenerational Equity via the Environment and Land Court. The law realizes that if human economic laws conflict with the biophysical laws of nature, human survival is what gives way.
The Legal Takeaway:
In Kenya, a law is no longer valid just because it was typed up on a government printer and signed by the President. If a human law braves the natural laws of human dignity, fairness, and environmental survival, the Kenyan courts—backed by the 2010 Constitution—will declare it a perversion of law and strike it down.
